Art Hag

Nan Goldin | Matthew Marks Gallery

Scopophilia, the title of photographer Nan Goldin's latest exhibit at Matthew Marks, means "the love of looking."  In 2010, Goldin was given permission to photograph throughout the Louvre while the museum was closed.  Consisting of over 400 images, Scopophilia juxtaposes famed artworks from the Louvre's collection alongside autobiographical pictures of Goldin's friends and lovers. New photographs of paintings and sculptures from the institution and photos taken throughout Goldin's prolific career are grouped together into a mesmerizing 25-minute slide installation.

Organized into themes of love and desire, Goldin explains, "Desire awoken by images is the project's true starting point.  It is about the idea of taking a picture of a sculpture or a painting in an attempt to bring it to life," (from the show's press release).  Goldin succeeds spectacularly -- her photographs of sculptures look alive, her pairings of classic paintings with her contemporary portraits are striking, and her slide-show is compelling (I watched it twice).  Goldin's Scopophilia will give you "the love of looking" too.  Learn more at Matthewmarks.com.  Through December 23rd.

Cupid with his wings on fire, Le Louvre, 2010

Pygmalion and Galatea, Le Louvre, 2010

Young hermaphrodite sleeping, Le Louvre, 2010

Swan-like embrace, Paris, 2010

Silence, 2011

Crazy Scary, 2011

Installation view

St. Apollonia, Zurbaran, 2011 (above) and Kathleen, NYC, 1993 (below)

Half Length Portrait of a Girl, Guerin, 2011 (above) and Siobhan, Berlin, 1994 (below)

Portait d'un graveur en pierres fines, Pontormo, 2011 (above left); Pawel, NYC, 1996 (below left); St. Sebastian, Puvis de Chavannes, 2011 (above right); Clemens, Paris, 2005 (below right)

Simen Johan | Yossi Milo

Until the Kingdom Comes is an ongoing photography project by the New York-based artist Simen Johan.  Currently on view at Yossi Milo, Johan's photos digitally amalgamate images of plants and animals shot "in natural preserves, zoos, farms, museum dioramas or his own studio" (from the show's press release) with new backgrounds often creating tension and/or unsettling scenarios.  For instance, a rhinocerous sullenly lies in a sandy, barren landscape; an ice-covered stag is uncomfortably propped against a tree; a palm tree stands uprooted by the edge of the ocean; two flamingoes share an awkward, possibly strangling embrace; and an unfortunate frog hangs limply out of a tropical bird's beak.

Johan's photographs fascinate as they toy with our notions of the natural world, depicting nature and wildlife in surreal or nightmarish scenes, blurring "the boundaries between opposing forces, such as the familiar and the otherworldly, the natural and the artificial, the serene and the eerie."  As the artist states, "I depict 'living' as an emotion-fueled experience, engulfed in uncertainty, desire, and illusion."  Learn more at Yossimilo.com and see my post on Johan's October 2009 exhibit here.  Through December 23rd.

Untitled #163, 2011

Untitled #168, 2011

Untitled #159, 2011

Untitled #170, 2011

Untitled #162, 2011

Untitled #167, 2011

Untitled #169, 2011

Billy Childish | Lehmann Maupin

For over thirty-five years, artist, writer, musician Billy Childish has been producing a variety of creative works -- hundreds of paintings, over forty volumes of poetry, a series of autobiographical novels, and more than 120 blues/punk influenced albums.  I Am The Billy Childish, currently on view at Lehmann Maupin's Lower East Side space, gives visitors just a hint of Childish's prolific output.

Born in Chatham, Kent in 1959, Childish left school at 16 and worked on a dockyard and as an apprentice stonemason.  A portfolio filled with one hundred drawings earned him admission to St. Martin's School of Art where the artist's "defiance to authority led to his eventual expulsion from art school in 1981," (from the show's press release).  This clearly did not deter Childish from creating art in various ways, exploring themes of "war, history, social protest, as well as his own experiences of alcoholism, and the sexual abuse he suffered as a child."  The first floor of the gallery presents the artist's recent paintings depicting volcanoes, the German mountaineer Toni Kurz, Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, as well as scenes of the Wounded Knee massacre.  The upstairs gallery surveys Childish's music and litery projects, showcasing zines, books, and a collection of poems.  Also on view are 55 of Childish's album covers, some featuring cover art by Childish and by artists Peter Doig and Daniel Clowes.

Influenced by Edvard Munch, Vincent van Gogh, and Dada, Childish's paintings feature shadowy figures against vibrating stokes of intense color.  As the old saying goes, "write what you know," and Childish boldly and honestly writes, performs, and paints what he knows and experiences.  At the exhibition's opening, the artist was on hand to read from his fifth novel, The Stonemason, as well as from his new collection of poetry, I Fuckt Frida Kahlo.  Learn more at Lehmannmaupin.com.  Through January 21st.

Kurz Descending (Study), 2011

Lt. Sydney A. Cloman, First Infantry, on His Horse on the Wounded Knee, 2011

Lt. Sydney A. Cloman, First Infantry, on His Horse on the Wounded Knee (detail), 2011

Erupting Volcano, Chile, 2011

Sibelius (Man with Stick), 2011

Sibelius Amongst Saplings, 2011

(Elgar) Man Sat on Chairs, 2011

Jim Lambie | Anton Kern

Glaswegian artist Jim Lambie's current exhibition, Spiritualized, at the Anton Kern Gallery delivers an eclectic group of rainbow-colored, musically influenced works composed of unconventional materials. Zippers slash across white canvases in a punkish sort of way.  Giant, rolled up, colorful belts made from steel and spray paint hang in various spots throughout the gallery whilst a long, loop-de-looped blue one sits atop a group of chairs with seat cushions made of cinder blocks.  Pieces of a dismembered suit of armor poke out of a large installation made of stacked blocks of cement and sheets of steel and aluminum.  A series of reflective aluminum squares with folded-over corners resembling sheets of construction paper line an entire wall. Rainbow-colored vortexes shoot straight through the gallery walls -- one vortex is flanked by black-and-white images of Bob Dylan while another pierces a photo of Mick Jagger's face.  In one corner, glass jars, each filled with a brightly-colored t-shirt, neatly dot the white walls.

A former rock musician, Lambie's vibrant, colorful work is influenced by synethesia, "an analogous experience between music and the color spectrum in which the stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway," (from the show's press release).  This would help explain the musical references the artist uses in several titles of his works as well as the images of rock icons.

While all the works in Spiritualized are vibrant and fun, the larger-scale, seemingly more complicated pieces made of industrial materials are overshadowed by the simple, low-tech, arts and craftsy wall sculpture, Digitized, made of jars and t-shirts collected from a charity shop.  Learn more at Antonkerngallery.com.  Through December 17th.

 

Installation view.  Spiritualized, 2011 in foreground.

Sun Orchid, 2011

Top to bottom:  Vortex (Hoochie Coochie), 2011 and Belt Buckle (Misirlou), 2011

Close-up of Vortex (Hoochie Coochie), 2011

Digitized, 2011

Close-up of Digitized, 2011

Vortex (Sticky Fingers), 2011

Belt Buckle (Voodoo Ray), 2011

Metal Box (I've Been Lovin' You), 2011

Zip Code, 2011

Top to Bottom:  Vortex (Bringing It All Back Home), 2011 and Belt Buckle (Subterranean Homesick Blues), 2011

Installation view.  Metal Urbain (Monochromatic), 2011 in foreground.